Paradox-Hearts
by Cryptographic
Summary: I'm a kingdom-Hearts fan, who's written their own version of the story, involving Kairi as being the main hero and the roles being switched around. This is my first fanfiction so I hope you enjoy!
1. He who waited

Prologue;

The boy who waited.

He had dark brown hair, eyes that matched his name and a tartan blue school uniform... And he was waiting by the beach again. Standing by the shore with his hands in his pockets and looking out to see with an expression not of content but only of concentration as if he were expecting something. The boy took his bag of his shoulders, kelt down and produced a small paper boat with two shells inside it. He gave a small smile to himself. And spoke; " here's to us " he said softly and placed the boat into the water, watching as the tides carried it away.

" every Friday you come here, and bring a paper boat " said a male voice. The boy looked back and forth then finally behind him to see a hooded figure in a coat that reached past their legs, accustomed with a long zip in the centre and accessorised with gloves on their hands. He could not see their face, because a shadow was cast over their eyes from their hood. The boy gasped and looked tense.

" who are you? " he asked in a hostile tone. " I haven't seen someone like you... Since..."

" since? " they asked and folded their arms. The boy did not answer so they took a few paces down the beach until standing parallel to him. They then pulled out their own paper boat, matching his from their pocket. " I'm quite curious though, why do you do that?"

" hey that's not..." The boy stopped talking and looked away. " well, if you're so curious... You should have already heard it by now" he looked out to sea again. " it's almost been a year now... Since my friend was lost at sea. "

" your friend?" They went silent holding one of the shells between their fingers.

"... A boy named Riku, there was a storm and he went to the island over there..." The brunette pointed off the coast to a neighbouring island that looked lonely and out of place. " he never came back " the boy sighed.

" and you bring boats for him every Friday? " they sounded sympathetic.

"... Well, he was my best friend after all " the boy replied.

" what's your name then? " asked the hooded man.

"...I'm Sora, " he answered with a look of interest in his child like eyes.

" Sora? Well, what do you know... A Sora and a Riku. Land and sky... "

They scratched their chin thoughtfully but Sora just watched him feeling more puzzled than ever.

" excuse me? " he said.

" oh it's nothing... I'm just thinking of a story I heard once, of a Sora... And a Riku and... Someone else. A girl named Kairi " the way he spoke her name, was as if he expected some sort of reaction. But Sora just looked at him with bland surprise.

" really? What's the story about?" He inquired and hitched his school bag onto his shoulders firmly.

" oh, it's quite a long story, about animals and beings of other worlds, monsters and heroes..." He began to list, but Sora's eyes brightened and he paused for a moment, in wonder.

" could... You tell me the story? About those three?"

The hooded man went quiet for some time in consideration.

" I suppose, seeing as I have nothing better to do... Besides, it might help you out hearing it..." They sat down on a rock and Sora sat nearby in the sand as they began their tale...


	2. Destiny

Chapter one Destiny 

The waves rocked softly against the shore, the sound of a distant sea breeze and birds calling overhead awakened him. Sora squinted his eyes to cover his face from the bright sun that lit up the sky and laid down again with his arms resting behind his head in the sand. When he opened them a few moments later, he could see a auburn haired girl staring down at him with a mischievous smile on her face.

" woah!" He cried, and sat upright. The girl began to laugh at him softly. Sora felt his face redden from embarrassment. "D-don't scare me like that Kairi..." He told her. She just rested her hands behind her back and peered down at him with her crystal blue eyes twinkling. She was wearing a white top with a black one underneath which slightly exposed her navel, purple biker shorts underneath a purple skirt with a blue belt, and white slip-on shoes with purple caps. On top of that she was also wearing a black choker, a yellow wristband as well as a purple arm band on her left arm and a pair of bracelets on her right arm, finally the necklace she had had since she was a child. A small cream coloured gem on a string.

" Sora, you lazy bum! I just knew I'd find you snoozing down here!" She scolded.

" y-you don't get it-" he stammered. " I was drowning, this huge black thing tried to swallow me up-" He was cut off through mid sentence when she rose her hand and gave him a light hit on the back of the head. " ow! " Sora complained.

" are you still dreaming?" She sighed at him.

" it wasn't a dream! " he protested. But realising how he was awake now, it was hard to tell what was real or not. " or was it...? I don't know... " he trailed off and found himself talking quietly so she couldn't hear. " what was that place? So bizarre..."

Kairi just rolled her eyes at him.

" yeah sure, " she smiled and stepped ahead of him, she stared out to sea. Holding her wrist with her free hand behind her back.

Sora tried to distract her, and tried to talk about something else.

" say, Kairi. What was your home town like? You know, where you grew up?" He sat cross legged in the sand and waited for her reply. Maybe she might have remembered something by now...

She just shook her head and calmly answered as if it was an expected answer;

" I've told you before, I don't remember "

" nothing at all?"

" nothing. "

" would you ever want to go back?" He pried her further.

" well," she paused. " I'm happy here "

" really...?" Sora mumbled.

" but you know, I wouldn't mind going to see it." She said positively.

" I'd like to see it too, along with any other worlds out there! I want to see them all" Sora found he was going quite off subject. But there dreams of seeing the outside world was filling them with determination and Sora could see a happy expression come across her.

" then what are we waiting for?" She glanced at him with a winning grin.

" hey, aren't you guys forgetting about me?" Said a voice from behind. Both Kairi and Sora looked back to see a slightly older looking boy who wore a vest that had a yellow collar and was yellow in the front and black on the sides and back. The vest had two black crisscrossing straps that went over his chest and on his upper back that were trimmed with white and had a white stud on each end. Just above each of his wrists were tight black bracelets and on his hands were black and gray gloves that reached just to the base of his thumb. He wore a black belt with a silver rectangular buckle high on his waist which secured his dark blue-gray pants. His pants were mostly covered by blue wading pants held up by black straps almost identical to the ones on his vest, except they were each layered and had more studs, as well as not being crisscrossed. The wading pants are tightened at the ankle with small black belts. His shoes were white and blue, with some yellow strings on the inner sides, some of which crisscross each other. The shoes each had two black straps with white trim and grey soles. He was confidently holding a log with one arm. It was Riku, their other friend, whom they'd known since they were young children. " so," he began. " it looks like I'm the only one working on the raft," he tossed the log over to Sora who fell over by its heavy weight with a surprised cry. The silver haired boy approached Kairi and said in a warning tone; " and you're just as bad as he is!" He referred to Sora, who had managed to get the log off of himself.

Kairi rubbed her head and gave a small giggle in reply.

" so you've noticed?" She asked him teasingly. Then Kairi gave a childish jump after having a sudden idea. " well then, we'll finish it together! I'll race you! " she pointed her hand at the two of them challengingly. Riku had sat next to Sora in the sand and gave a bored look.

" what? Are you kidding? " he sighed.

" ready? Go! " she called and both boys were already on their feet and were running across the beach. Kairi who was a slow runner trailed after them laughing.

After their race however, Kairi and Riku were being stern on getting the raft finished. It had been their ambition for a long time now, to make a raft and to visit the other worlds. The island they lived on was known as Destiny island. For a long time Sora and Riku had lived not knowing what laid beyond, in fact Sora didn't believe there was anywhere else apart from here. It was always Riku who was encouraging him to see further than that. But what really set things in motion had to be when Kairi had arrived on their island.

Sora could remember it quite clearly, how they'd found her washed up by the shore, how for a long time she had been quiet and reserved because she couldn't remember anything about herself. Everything was gone, apart from her name. The necklace she wore was a reminder about her old home, it was all she could really hold onto. Yet being the only one from another world she wasn't too bothered in finding out where she had come from. Once again it had been Riku's persistence to get them to agree.

Sora found himself standing with her on a shaded part of the island. It wasn't really where they lived, Destiny Islands was a whole series of little islands across the ocean and this patch of land was just somewhere they'd go to play for fun. They had used old furniture and wood to craft lots of tree houses and secret hideouts.

But Sora kept thinking back to the nightmare he had had before. The darkness, and that strange voice. How it had felt so real...

He had finally caught up with what Kairi was saying to him;

" geez." She sighed. " we can't build the raft without the rest of the materials can we? So I'll go over with you again with what we need to collect left: two logs, one cloth and one rope, bring everything back here and no more slacking off okay? " she asked him.

Sora nodded obediently and began to look around the island for their needed items. The dream was playing on repeat in his mind.

How it began, with Riku being swallowed up by the ocean and how he'd fallen through the earth and Kairi couldn't help him. Then he had ended up in a black abyss with strange mosaic patterns on the ground, of women who wore fancy clothes. Almost to be considered like princesses. Except the thing was, that he'd never seen them before in his life and he couldn't understand why he'd seen them so clearly.

On top of that... There was those strange monsters that attacked him. A sword that looked like a key and the voice that kept talking...

" you are the one who will open the door? " Sora said to himself in consideration. " the door to what though..." He paused, noticing a boy in yellow practicing with a sword. It wasn't Riku though, it was Tidus. Come to think of it, Sora was certain he'd dreamt of Tidus too, not only him... But Selphie and Waka. The two other friends who would sometimes come here to play.

Tidus was swinging his wooden sword about carelessly and noticed Sora was nearby. Tidus challenged him to a fight but Sora refused, knowing Kairi and Riku would only be angry with him if he didn't do his share of working on the raft. Sora kept scavenging the island in hopes for the objects he needed and they ended up being in some of the last places he had expected. But finally he was done and Sora felt like he was just eager to sleep again at the end of the day.

Sora returned to Kairi and proudly showed her that he had managed to collect all of the items.

" good job Sora!" She praised him. " do you wanna call it a day? " she asked.

" yeah, " Sora said.

" alright, let's wait for Riku " she smiled.

Sora couldn't help but feel a little envious by how she was giving Riku special treatment but he kept it to himself and sat on the Papou fruit tree waiting for his friends to arrive. The Papou fruit was a star shaped yellow fruit that grew on their island, and it was believed that if two people had shared one, then their destinies would become intertwined. Sora and Kairi waited patiently for Riku, who gradually joined them and stood with his back against the tree, rather than sitting down next to them. The sun was setting peacefully on the ocean and it cast a warm red glow on the sea, shining in different warm tones. Sora swung his legs back and forth and being more talkative than the others began to ask questions again.

" so, kairi's home is out there somewhere right?" He asked. Both Sora and Kairi looked in Riku's direction. He always seemed like the smartest so they usually went to him for advice. Kairi leaned forwards and drew her knees to her chest while Riku gave it some thought, he looked on into the distance without giving them a second glance. That was typically like him though. Always thinking of different theories and perspectives. It tired Sora out how he could have so much energy to think about such things.

" could be, we'll never know by staying here. " he replied.

" but... How far would the raft take us?" Sora questioned.

" who knows" Riku waved his hand a little. He seemed irritated by Sora's questions. " if we have to, we'll think of something else"

" so, suppose we get to another world," Kairi laughed lightly. " what would you do there?"

Riku sighed and looked down a little.

" well, I haven't really thought about it," he paused with consideration. " it's just, I've always wondered why we're here on this island. If there are any worlds out there, why did we end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a small part of something much greater. So... We could have just as easily ended up somewhere else right?" He looked at Sora and Kairi as he said this.

Sora was feeling confused and laid down on the tree branch with his hands resting behind his head.

" I don't know " Sora replied.

" Exactly," Riku continued. " that's why we need to go there and find out for ourselves" he stood up properly and took a few steps forwards. " staying here won't change a thing, it's the same old stuff. So let's go. "

Kairi looked at him thoughtfully.

" you've been thinking about this a lot lately, haven't you?" She asked.

" thanks to you," Riku confessed and Sora risked looking at her reaction to what he had said. But she was just sitting there quite calmly and listening to him talk. " if you hadn't come here, I probably wouldn't have thought of any of this. Kairi, thanks "

" heh, you're welcome" she smiled honestly.

A while after they decided to head home, before it was too dark and the tides were too dangerous to ride their rowing boats back to the main island. Kairi walked ahead and Sora found him and Riku were trailing behind. He was trying not to feel envious about the conversation from earlier but he couldn't help himself. It almost seemed as if Riku and Kairi were getting close. Sora shook his head and tried to think about something else. As he did, something unexpected happened. His head began to hurt suddenly and his vision was flashing into black streaks and spots. Sora held his own head and steadied himself from falling.

" can you hear me? " someone spoke to him. Sora looked around in confusion, the voice he heard wasn't kairi, or Riku. It couldn't have been Selphie Tidus or Waka either, because they would have headed home by now.

" hey Sora," said Riku who had now walked ahead of him without Sora realising. Riku tossed over something to him and Sora caught it in his hands. To his surprise it was a Papou fruit. He looked at Riku with a puzzled expression and Riku seemed to find this amusing.

" you wanted one didn't you?" He asked a little rhetorically. " if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined. Come on, I know you want to try it"

" what? What are you talking about?" Sora protested and felt his face redden. Riku laughed a little and walked on ahead. Sora threw the fruit aside. Trying his best not to think of Kairi.

" come on you guys, we'll finish the raft in the morning!" Kairi called.


	3. An unexpected visitor

An unexpected visitor 

The next day Sora headed to the island early so he could finish off his work. He had been in such a hurry he found he'd completely forgotten about the incident that had happened the day before. He was annoyed to find that Riku and Kairi were already at the island though, earlier than him too. Riku just smirked a little at him.

" Sora, catch up. It's late y'know " Sora clenched his fists. It seemed whatever he tried to do, he could never seem to get better than Riku. Riku was best at everything, he was smart, everyone seemed to like him... Not to mention he was strong... Sora felt his heart sink heavily in his chest, wondering if Kairi could like Riku more than him. But in the end, Riku was still his best friend, and he couldn't get mad at him because of that. Sora just gave a lazy stretch and went with the joke;

" I know, maybe I'll start a record" he smiled.

" speaking of records..." Riku muttered. It seemed like he was referring to their competitions. They'd been running them for a while now, sparring, racing and scavenging. Stuff like that. Right now they had hit a tie-breaker. They were so busy with building the raft that they didn't have the time for competitions.

" I think we should name the raft Highwind, what do you think?" Riku asked.

Sora pondered for a moment, trying to think of a better name.

" Wayfinder " Sora declared.

" alright, how about we race on it?" Riku suggested.

" hah, you're on!" Sora replied challengingly.

Kairi was watching them talk nearby and folded her arms and rolled her eyes.

" are you guys at it again? Alright, I'll be the judge." She smiled.

The two of them took their positions at the starting point, Kairi was standing on a high rock so she could get a better view. The rule was to get to the finish line and back, and the winner would name the raft.

" okay, so if I win, I'm captain." Sora began. " and if you win-"

" I get to share the Papou with Kairi" Riku interrupted.

" huh?" Sora jumped.

" deal? The winner gets to share a Papou with kairi" Riku smirked.

" w-wait a minute..." Sora stammered in embarrassment.

" okay, on my count!" Kairi cheered obliviously in the background. Sora quickly prepared himself for the race, although he was still quite confused by what Riku had said. That probably meant then... That Riku really did like her... Sora felt his face go red. He couldn't let Riku win... But at the same time he didn't really feel like he wanted to do something like that...

" go! " Kairi called and both Sora and Riku ran simultaneously to the finish line. Riku jumped across to the zip wire to take a short cut while Sora went to the bridge. He ran across a few steps and heard a loud snapping sound beneath him. Sora screamed in surprise as the bridge collapsed beneath him. He could hear Kairi shout his name in shock and saw Riku ahead who'd stopped running and turned around to face him. Sora tried to shield himself from the wooden debris that fell down with him when he crashed into the ocean below. He flailed his arms about trying to swim, but he only felt as if he were sinking... Sinking back into that abyss like dream...

" you are the one who will open the door " repeated the voice. " do not be afraid-"

In the darkness Sora could see a light in his hand, that glowed brighter and brighter. It was... That strange key again...?

" Sora!" Kairi's voice burst through the darkness and Sora looked up to see her staring down at him and Riku who was shaking water off himself. " thank goodness you're alright!" She sighed in relief.

"Wh-what...?" Sora stammered. " what happened?"

" oh? You don't remember, the bridge collapsed and you fell into the water, Riku swam in after and saved you" she looked at Riku thankfully and Sora felt another pang of jealousy hearing her tone.

" oh... Thanks Riku..." Sora said.

" don't mention it " Riku brushed it off. " we should have been more careful, and noticed some of this stuff was rotting by how much rain we'd been having " he began to lecture. He stopped though realising now probably wasn't the time. "...we'll have to race another day, it doesn't really matter right now what the raft is called. We should just finish it off" he ruffled Sora's wet hair. Sora shrank down.

It was moments like this when he remembered how much of a good friend Riku really was and why everyone looked up to him so much. Sora only wished he was more nicer more often.

" yeah," Kairi agreed. " let's take it easy okay? Why don't you try looking for some mushrooms instead Sora? That could really help" she insisted. It was odd how whenever she spoke to him it seemed like any thing he would do seemed to be of great importance to her, even if it meant collecting some mushrooms...

" alright. " Sora answered. " I'll do that "

So Sora set off looking around the island for the mushrooms while Riku collected the fish and Kairi was finishing sewing the raft's sail for their departure the next morning. Sora was getting close to giving up, because he'd been searching for a while now and couldn't find any, but then he spotted some, growing near the entrance of the... Secret Place. The Secret place, was a hidden little cavern Sora and Riku had found when they were children. It was when they had first come here to this little play island and first started exploring. Riku was always insistent on going in there but recently he hadn't been around the place at all. There was some mystery to it, a odd atmosphere. How there was a small gap at the ceiling of the cave where light and plants streamed through, and how they had drawn pictures with chalk. Sora had always thought kairi's drawings were quite good and without thinking as he collected the mushrooms he walked inside the secret place just for a look. After all, it would be a while before he'd be able to come here again. Sora traced his hand against the stony wall and stopped just at the end of the little cavern where there was a large wooden door pressed into the wall but with no keyhole or door handle to open it with. Next to it was a drawing Sora and Kairi had done when they were younger, it was portraits of each other and Sora smiled a little at their childish art.

The door though, had always been here. Ever since Sora and Riku had found this place and sometimes Riku had said things to Sora, like how it would lead to another world or something along those lines. Sora picked up a piece of chalk and began to draw underneath the picture him and Kairi had done. He was thinking about what Riku had said before their race. " the winner shares a Papou with Kairi " Sora wondered curiously, that if they were to leave then there might not be any Papou fruit anywhere else... Or in other worlds for that matter... Maybe he should-

" there will be a storm. Tonight " said a voice behind him. Sora screamed in surprise and desperately tried to cover the Papou fruit he had drawn.

" wh-who's there?!" He stammered. Looking back and forth. But it the shadows of the cave he couldn't see who it was.

" did you not here me? Sora?" Said a young man. Sora tensed up and watched a figure step out of the shadows. They were wearing a black coat that went down to their feet and it was hard to see the boots they wore underneath. They had black gloves on and their coat was fashioned with a long zip going down the middle and a large hood that covered all of their face. It was not a voice, or a person he recognised.

" Oi... Who are you? Riku don't tell me that's you trying to wind me up... Or you Tidus?" Sora grumbled.

" hardly. I just wanted to tell you something Sora." They replied calmly. Although he didn't sound like Riku, he certainly acted like him. This odd calm demeanour that Riku seemed to have... " there's going to be a storm tonight " he repeated. " and if you don't shelter your raft, it will be destroyed in the storm "

" it... Will?" Sora mumbled. " wait, why are you telling me this? And what proof do you have?" He said in a hostile tone.

" why would I need any proof. I'm just trying to help. If you shelter your raft before you leave then it won't be destroyed. You and your friends can go visit other worlds and imagine how happy they'd be." He suggested.

" happy? How?" Sora grumbled.

" if you don't tell them there's going to be a storm. They'll assume the raft has been destroyed and they'll be devastated, but you'll be like a hero showing you concealed it earlier, to protect it and they'd be so pleased and proud of you. Imagine what that girl would say, the one you like?"

Sora was astounded why someone was looking out for him and telling him these things. He was about to ask how and why he knew these things but the man was already answering his questions before he could ask.

" it's obvious you like her, anyone can see that, as for why I'm doing this, I'm just being a friend. Oh, and what could I gain from this? Well, I'll be satisfied enough knowing i helped you out, and if you're going to hide the raft. I wouldn't take it now would I? Because I wouldn't know where to look" he said quickly.

" who are you...?" Sora finally managed.

" a friend. If you don't listen, shame on you. I'm doing you a favour Sora..." The figure stepped back into the shadows.

"H-hey...!" Sora said. He felt a hand on his shoulder from behind and quickly turned around, his hand caught against kairi's necklace and it fell off onto the floor with the string broken.

" Sora!" She cried in horror.

" Kairi! I- I didn't mean to... Oh I'm so sorry..."

She lifted it up helplessly and sighed in relief finding only the string was broken.

" you idiot... You're lucky it was only the string that broke... It's the gem that's important..." She mumbled. Kairi looked up at him slowly. " Sora, you're worrying me, you've been kind of out of it recently... Since yesterday... And that fall hasn't done you much good either, maybe you should just head home. "

" no, I'm fine really. I'll prove it to you, I'll finish off the rest of the raft and I'll fix your necklace " Sora insisted.

" Sora, you don't have too..." She grumbled. " Riku could just do that for you y'know. He's worried about you too, he's even offered to do the rest of your tasks..."

" here, " Sora held out the mushrooms. Kairi took them gently and watched him carefully as Sora exchanged it for her broken necklace. " I'll fix it, by tomorrow. I promise. " he smiled.

Kairi looked reluctantly at him but seemed to give in. " alright, alright... You win, but don't think you've gotten away with this just yet. I'm making sure Riku keeps an eye on you and if you start acting woozy again he'll carry you home " she warned.

" really?" Sora laughed a little. " I'll be careful " he said honestly.

" promise?" She asked.

" I promise " he replied.

In the evening Sora was doubting the warnings he had received, the sky looked so peaceful and it didn't look stormy at all. But still he wanted to impress Kairi and so he waited for his friends to go by their rowing boats while he hid the raft in a sheltered cave. Even if there was a storm. There was no way Riku or Kairi would be crazy enough to just go here in the middle of the night. In fact it was sort of funny to imagine Riku doing such an absurd thing. When Sora joined his friends he saw Kairi was holding a funny looking object in her hand.

" what's that? " he asked.

" it's a thalassa charm " she said proudly. Showing five thalassa shells she had sewed into a star shape and placed a small crown in the centre of them. It seemed on one of the shells she had drawn a face but Sora couldn't really tell who it was supposed to be. " sailors take these as good look charms on their journey, so they'll be able to go home " she smiled.

" if we get lost?" Sora asked.

" yeah, what else?" She grinned.

" alright, hurry up love birds it's getting dark" Riku called.

" Riku! Don't say such strange things!" Sora said feeling flustered. Riku just smirked at him. " I'm kidding Sora, geez you have such a quick temper" he leaned forwards and whispered; " it's a shame now, you've missed your chance sharing a Papou with her, I wonder how long it'll take for the opportunity to strike again?" He tapped his chin cunningly.

" oh shut up!" Sora pushed him and Riku laughed while Kairi watched puzzled.

" that's enough guys!" She pushed them apart. " now remember, we're setting off early tomorrow so no lying in! " she instructed.

" alright, see you guys " Riku saluted.

" goodnight " Kairi smiled.

" bye " Sora said.


	4. No Hero

No hero 

Sora was sitting in his bedroom when the storm began, he could see it from his window. The sky filling up with dark clouds while he was safe in his room from the pouring rain. He was finishing collecting his things for the morning with a proud smile. Yet it wasn't really his idea.

" if it wasn't for that guy..." Sora said to himself, remembering the man in the black coat who had warned him. Then he'd be running into that storm right now, trying to stop the raft from being destroyed. At least, he knew he would. Kairi and Riku weren't that crazy to do something so reckless.

" Sora! Dinner's ready!" Called his mother from downstairs.

" coming! Give me a minute!" Sora called back and sat down at his desk, holding kairi's necklace in his hand. He had found a new stronger string to hold it together and couldn't wait to give it to her the next day. True, he did break it. But he wanted to prove he was useful, that he could do good things like Riku... He wanted her to... Look up to him. Sora fitted the new string on the necklace with a smile and walked to his bedroom door to go for dinner. The necklace began to glow in his hands and Sora looked down, never had he seen anything glow like that before. A warm feeling, something he had felt before... Long ago.

But then he heard cold laughter. A laugh that sounded identical to his own.

" you are a fool " said himself with golden eyes.


End file.
